Octogenarian Chandro Tomar Is The World's Oldest Female Sharpshooter

Chandro Tomar has many numbers to her name: six children, 15 grandchildren, eight decades on earth. Oh, and 25 national championship wins. Tomar, a.k.a. Revolver Dadi, is the world's oldest female sharpshooter, and her incredible success has triggered a sport shooting surge among women in her village of Johri in India. This small village is producing some of the country's most successful female sharpshooting champions, thanks to Tomar's inspiration.

Fate Claims Another Champion

It all started when Tomar accompanied her granddaughter to the Johri Rifle Club to learn how to shoot a gun. Instead of waiting around for her to finish, Tomar decided to give it a try too. She picked up a pistol, pointed it at a target, and pulled the trigger. Bullseye. When the club's coach saw her natural ability, he invited her to join the club and begin training. "Initially I was just supporting my granddaughter," Tomar told DNA India, "but I enjoyed it so much it became a passion and I looked forward to going to the club every week." Since that fateful day, Tomar has gone on to win 25 national titles.

Finger on the Trigger, Sights on the Future

Tomar's success has inspired women throughout her village to take up sharpshooting as a hobby. In fact, she inspired her daughter Seema to follow in her footsteps, and in 2010, Seema became the first female Indian competitor to walk away with a medal in the Rifle and Pistol World Cup. Her septuagenarian sister-in-law Prakashi Tomar beat the deputy superintendent of the police force, making him so angry that he refused to show up to the ceremony. Chandro herself has put officers to shame too, beating the Deputy Inspector General of the police force. Looks like there are some new sheriffs in town, fellas.

Tomar knows what it's like to be a woman and scoffed at for trying out sharpshooting, and being at retirement age certainly added to the scorn. She took that experience and her success and has inspired dozens of women in her village to take up the hobby. Her infamy has since spread beyond her small town, and could inspire women young and old around the world to try the sport themselves.